Matthew:21

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* They were near Jerusalem at Bethphage . Jesus sent two disciples to the Mount of Olives . * He told them , »Go to the nearby town and look for a donkey with a cord around her neck . There will be a young one with her . Turn them loose and bring them to me . * »Tell anyone who asks , ‘The Lord needs them ,’ and right away he will allow them to go .« * This took place so that the words of the prophet might come true : * »Say to the daughter of Zion , ‘See , your King comes to you , humble , and seated on a donkey , a colt , the offspring of a beast of burden .’« * So the disciples did as Jesus commanded . * They got the donkey and the young one , and laid their clothing on them . And he sat on the clothing . * Most of the people spread their garments on the road . Others took branches from the trees and put them on the road . * Those going ahead of him and following him shouted praise : »Glory to the Son of David ! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah ! Glory in the highest !« (Psalms strkjv @118:26 ) * When he came to Jerusalem , the people were excited . They asked : »Who is this ?« * Other people said : »This is the prophet Jesus , from Nazareth of Galilee .« * Jesus went into the Temple and drove out all who were trading there . He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those trading in doves . * He told them : »It is written , ‘My house is to be named a house of prayer ,’ but you are making it a hiding place of thieves .« * The blind and the crippled came to him in the Temple , and he made them well . * The chief priests and the scribes saw the powerful works he did . They heard the children crying out in the Temple : »Glory to the son of David .« This made them very angry . * »Have you any idea what these people are saying ?« Jesus answered : »Yes . It is written , ‘From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete .’« * He left them and went out of the town to Bethany where he stayed for the night . * He was hungry in the morning when he returned to the town . * He saw a fig tree along the side of the road . He went to it and saw nothing on it but leaves . He told it : »You will not bare fruit from this time forward , forever .« Immediately the fig tree became dry and dead . * The disciples were surprised when they saw it . They asked how the fig tree became dry so quickly ? * Jesus answered : »If you have faith and do not doubt , I make this promise to you : You will be able to do what was done to this fig tree . When you say to this mountain , be moved into the sea , it will be done . * »You will receive the things you ask for in prayer when you have faith .« * When he went into the Temple , the chief priests and those in authority over the people came to him while he was teaching . They asked : »By what authority do you do these things ? Who gave you this authority ?« * Jesus answered : »I will ask you one question . If you give me the answer , I will say by what authority I do these things . * »Where did the baptism of John come from ? Was it from heaven or from men ?« They talked among themselves . »If we say , ‘From heaven ,’ he will say , ‘Why did you not have faith in him ?’ * »But if we say , ‘From men ,’ we must fear the people , because they all recognize John to be a prophet .« * Therefore they answered : »We have no idea .« He replied to them : »Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things .« * »What do you think ? A man had two sons . He asked the first to work today in the vineyard . * »The first son said in answer , ‘I will not .’ Later he changed his mind and went to work . * »He said the same to the second son . That son answered , ‘Yes , I will go ,’ but he did not go to work . * »Which of the two pleased his father ?« They replied : »The first .« Jesus said to them : »I tell you , tax collectors and prostitutes will go into the kingdom of God before you .« * »John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him . Even the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him . When you saw this , you did not regret your sins and did not have faith in him . * »Listen to another illustration . A master of a house made a vineyard , and put a wall around it . He made a wine press and built a tower . Then he rented it to workers and traveled to another country . * »When the time for the fruit came near , he sent his servants to the workmen , to get the fruit . * »The workmen attacked his servants , striking one with a stone and killing the other . * »He sent other servants more in number than the first . They did the same to them . * »Finally he sent his son to them , saying , ‘Certainly they will respect my son .’ * »When the workmen saw the son , they said , ‘Let us put him to death and take his heritage , for someday he will own this property .’ * »They took him out of the vineyard and killed him . * »When the lord of the vineyard returns , what will he do to the workmen ?« * They all said : »He will put those cruel men to death . Then he will find other workmen who are worthy and who will give him fruit when it is ready .« * Jesus said to them : »Have you read the Scriptures , ‘The stone the builders rejected has been made the chief cornerstone of the building . This was Jehovah ’s doing , and it is wonderful in our eyes .’ (Isaiah strkjv @28:16 ) * »For this reason I tell you , The kingdom of God will be taken away from you . It will be given to a nation producing fruit . * »Any man falling on this stone will be broken . Any man having this stone fall on him will be crushed to dust .« * When the chief priests and Pharisees heard his illustrations they realized he was talking about them . * They wanted to seize him , but feared the people , because the people saw Jesus as a prophet .

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